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Big moment about to arrive for Anderson, Larionov, Scapinello, Chynoweth

TORONTO - The big moment is finally set to arrive for Mork and The Professor.

Passed over in years past, Glenn Anderson and Igor Larionov will be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on Monday night along with linesman Ray Scapinello and junior hockey builder Ed Chynoweth.

The wait has been longest for Anderson. He's been eligible since 1999 and had to watch as 23 players were enshrined before him during that time.

Perhaps it's only fitting for a guy that has never done things the traditional way, which earned him the nickname Mork - after a TV alien from outer space. Anderson won six Stanley Cups during his career and earned a reputation as a big-game player.

He attributes that success to a few painful losses he suffered earlier in his career - with the Canadian national team at the 1980 Olympics and with the Oilers prior to their dynasty years.

"I hated to lose more than I liked to win," Anderson said in a recent interview. "I think you have to lose before you can win. And the hardships that I had from losing hurt so bad that I didn't want to do that again. ...

"And so as far as getting into a tight situation where the pressure was on and the game was close or we're down a goal or the game was tied is like I always just reverted back to those memories of how bad it hurt and how much I hated to lose more probably than I wanted to win. (It helped me) rise to that occasion so I didn't have that feeling again."

Many were surprised that Larionov was passed over after first becoming eligible last year. Mark Messier, Ron Francis, Al MacInnis and Scott Stevens formed a great class in 2007 but Larionov has a stellar international resume to go with NHL success and his three Stanley Cups.

He had already won two Olympic gold medals and was considered one of the top players in the world when he joined the Vancouver Canucks in 1989. He was 29 at the time and among the first wave of Soviet players to come to North America.

Larionov looks more like a Nobel Prize winner than a hockey player and teammates soon started calling him "The Professor."

The turning point in his NHL career came early one morning in October 1995 when he received a call from Scotty Bowman and found out he'd been acquired by the Detroit Red Wings. Larionov soon found himself playing on a five-man Russian unit with Sergei Fedorov, Slava Kozlov, Vladimir Konstantinov and Slava Fetisov.

"Finally I had a chance ... to play the style I was taught to play in Russia," Larionov said in June after learning of his Hall induction. "Puck control, possession, skating and creativity. "

"Those eight seasons in Detroit I played for the Red Wings ... that was success, that was fun, that was unbelievable support from the fans and the coaches and all the staff who was putting the team together. It was incredible."

Scapinello spent 33 years as an NHL linesman and worked almost 3,000 career games without missing an assignment while Chynoweth was a longtime president of the Western Hockey League and helped found the Canadian Hockey League in 1973. He died in April at the age of 66 after a battle with cancer.

The Hall will also honour former Canadian Press hockey writer Neil Stevens with the Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award and broadcaster Mike (Doc) Emrick with the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award.